Episode 2
"Book of Fetus" is the 2nd episode of The Mystic Archives of Dantalian anime and the second story shown in the adaptation. It's also known as Episode 01: Shem-ha-mephorash. Hugh accepts a job to assess a collection of books, part of an inheritance Miss Estella Lilburn obtained. However, Hugh and Dalian are involved in a supposed curse that kills people around Estella.The Mystic Archives of Dantalian anime, Episode 2. __TOC__ Summary Hugh, in his child form, is in the Labyrinth Library with the mysterious girl. She talks about all the wisdom contained in that place and gives him a book and a tablet. Hugh says he will be back and leaves, before the doors are closed. Hugh and Dalian are having tea with Miss Estella Lilburn. Both Lord Wesley and Estella's grandfather, Colonel Lilburn, have passed away around six months ago. She apologizes for sending a letter to Lord Wesley, requesting his services. However, Hugh accepts the job in his stead. Dalian is interested in Colonel Lilburn's collection, though she's not happy with the exchange of pleasantries between Hugh and Estella. The latter shows them her grandfather's study. Since her parents have already passed away, Estella inherited the mansion, along with her grandfather's collection of books. However, she needs someone to assess it. Some bells can be heard. Estella explains the source of the sound is the carillon of the mansion that plays every hour. Her grandfather amassed his fortune manufacturing musical boxes, and applied the same techniques to construct the clock tower. Child mark.png|Hugh receives two Phantom Books. Estella's mansion.png|Hugh accepts the job requested by Estella. Hugh starts his job. Dalian is not impressed by the Colonel's books, comparing it to Wesley's collection. Dalian blushes when Hugh shows interest in Estella, assuming that he's attracted to her hair. They are interrupted by Martin Geese, Estella's cousin. He notices how Hugh avoids using his right hand to shake hands. Martin explains he's serving as Estella's guardian, checking her every week and making arrangements related to food and servants. Hugh is concerned about Estella, who seems to be isolated. Martin says that she's isolated because of a curse which attracts murder to everyone that tries to take Estella out of the mansion, including her parents, and that the source of the curse is a Phantom Book buried somewhere in the Colonel's collection. At night, Hugh arrives in his room, where Dalian is reading a book, interested in the Colonel's different tastes compared to Wesley's. Hugh has the Colonel's scrapbook, which shows records of the murders. The first one occurred 50 years ago, when Estella was not yet born. The scrapbook gives information about more than one hundred cases of deaths or missing people. The incidents suddenly stopped for a while and, after decades, started again around Estella. Dalian affirms that the curse doesn't exist and that Phantom Books do not affect those who only possess it. Through a window, Hugh sees Martin and Estella walking together. Dalian provokes Hugh, saying Martin and Estella must have a twisted relationship. When they hear the bells from the clock tower, Hugh tries to make Dalian leave his room so he can sleep. She blushes while pretending that she's not afraid of the curse. They hear someone screaming. Outside, the full moon is covered by the clouds. Hugh sees the bloodied body of Martin Geese in the arms of an artificial creature. Estella is next to it, also covered in blood. The creature withstand Hugh's shots and leaps to the top of the mansion, going away with Martin's body. Hugh asks if Estella is fine. She worries about Martin, apparently oblivious to what just happened. She shows a creepy smile for a moment and then profusely apologizes to her late grandmother when she realizes the state of her dress. The next day, Dalian explains the monster they saw is a golem created by someone that used the Book of Fetus, whilst another Phantom Book, called "72 Sacred Notes of the Shem-ha-mephorash"'', is being used to control it. Dalian leaves to find the Phantom Book. Hugh follows her, noticing that she put something in the pocket of his coat. Dalian reads a book about the history of the Lilburn family and finds that Colonel Lilburn's wife is descendant of people hunted down because of a string of murders within their territory. Estella brings lunch, interrupting them. She tells them she prepared it herself, as the servants left the place after Martin’s death, fearing they would not receive their pay. She asks if Hugh would be with her forever and is taken aback when he call her Miss Lilburn, not Estella. She leans against Hugh and stabs him with a kitchen knife she was using. The bells of the clock tower ring. Estella explains she kills so that people cannot leave her. The Golem breaks through a wall, revealing the bodies of all the servants. Dalian says that the women of that household are born with an impulse to kill. Hugh shows that he was saved thanks to the book put in his pocket by Dalian. The latter reveals that the Golem was created to hide the evidence of Estella's crimes. Hugh grabs Dalian to protect her from the Golem. She gives Hugh the right to open the Library’s gate. He uses the key in his hand and, like seen at the beginning of the episode, he receives two Phantom Books. He reads the Book of Styx'' to summon a shield and block all the punches from the Golem. After that, he uses The Clay Tablet of Ugarit to summon a lightning attack, that goes through the roof and hits the Golem. The creature loses his right arm at the same time that Estella is pushed away. Hugh is exhausted by having to use two Phantom Books. They see the Golem getting up. Hugh learns that the Golem is immortal and that it can only be stopped by the 72 Sacred Notes of the Shem-ha-mephorash. He asks if there is a Phantom Book that does not use letters and Dalian avers. He realizes that the Phantom Book they need to defeat the Golem is in the form of the carillon made by 72 different musical boxes. He uses The Clay Tablet of Ugarit to destroy the clock tower, which makes the Golem fall to pieces. It’s shown how Estella was mistreated during her creation. They prepare to leave the collapsing mansion, when Hugh calls for Estella. She says that she will stay in that place, as she promised to her grandfather. A few days later, Hugh appears reading a newspaper about the fate of the Lilburn family. Dalian explains the curse that affected the women in their family as a psychological change due to abuse when they were young. Hugh laughs at the fact that Dalian is trying to mimic Estella’s hair. Trivia * Hugh investigates the Colonel's scrapbook to know more about the murder cases around Estella. One of the photos in this scrapbook was published in the 1870's on the Illustrated Police News, one of the first British tabloids.The Illustrated Police News. (2016, October 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:13, February 18, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Illustrated_Police_News&oldid=742876378 It's related to a girl that died, probably from a heart disease, and had her body eaten by rats.Paul Townsend. Horrible Discovery of a Girl Eaten by Rats. (2009, August 9). In Flickr. Retrieved 18:15, February 18, 2017, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/3803494961 ** The same scrapbook shows a real record about auctions published on The Standard, a British tabloid created in 1827, today known as London Evening Standard.London Evening Standard. (2017, April 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:54, April 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=London_Evening_Standard&oldid=774364307 ** A newspaper clipping from The Times, a British national newspaper founded in 1785, also describes the auction of English banker and politician Stephens Lyne-Stephens' collections after the death of his wife, the notable French dancer Pauline Duvernay.The Times. (2017, April 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:55, April 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Times&oldid=774133173 The arrangements were made by executor Horace Pym and the sales happened in 1895, at the rooms of Christie's, a historic British auction house active since 1766.Christie's. (2017, March 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:05, April 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christie%27s&oldid=770069519Julian Fellowes. The Beauty of Her Age: A Tale of Sex, Scandal and Money in Victorian England. Chapter 23, Amberley Publishing, 2016. ** The book also has an announcement from the Queen's College, founded in 1341 in Oxford, in honour of Queen Philippa of Hainault.The Queen's College, Oxford. (2017, February 1). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:44, April 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Queen%27s_College,_Oxford&oldid=763105089 It reports about five lectures given by Dr. Edward Moore about the "purgatories of Dante". The former was indeed a tutor of the Queen's College between 1862 and 1864. The scholar was specialized in Dante Alighieri, a Italian poet and author of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Comedy Divine Comedy], considered a masterpiece of world literature.Edward Moore (scholar). (2017, March 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:46, April 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Moore_(scholar)&oldid=772307062Dante Alighieri. (2017, April 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:47, April 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dante_Alighieri&oldid=774816621 * There's a widely known oil painting at the guestroom where Hugh and Dalian have a conversation. It's La Grande Odalisque, a 1814 art by French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.Grande Odalisque. (2017, March 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:46, April 12, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grande_Odalisque&oldid=771912608 * During the fight against the Golem, Hugh is seen with a glove in his right hand. He had just removed it to open the Library. * The book Dalian is reading at night is called "Arrow of Time I". Arrow of time is a concept developed in 1927 by British astronomer Arthur Eddington, describing how time appears to have a direction: the past lies behind us and the future lies ahead.Arrow of time. (2017, February 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:16, February 18, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arrow_of_time&oldid=764496535 * In the last scene, Dalian's reading The Entertainment in Conversation and Verse. There's a 1976 work from R. D. Laing called "Do You Love Me? An Entertainment in Conversation and Verse". It's a collection of dialogues about relationships. * In this episode, the opening is shown for the first time. * The clock tower is shown many times throughout the episode, making possible to know the time of each event. * There are four named books in the last scene. ** Apocalypse Now: 1979 American epic war film.Apocalypse Now. (2017, February 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:17, February 18, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apocalypse_Now&oldid=765736892 ** The Odyssey of Homer: a Greek epic poem.Odyssey. (2017, February 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:18, February 18, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Odyssey&oldid=765399711 ** Only the good die young: a proverb from Roman Titus Maccius Plautus' play Bacchides, inspired by a record from historian Herodotus.Latin Proverbs, Mottoes, Phrases, and Words: Group Q. In English-Word Information. Retrieved 18:20, February 18, 2017, from http://wordinfo.info/unit/3479/s:aliis%20est%20venenum ** In Search of Lost Time: work by French novelist Marcel Proust, first published in 1913, known for having "involuntary memory" as theme.In Search of Lost Time. (2017, February 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:21, February 18, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=In_Search_of_Lost_Time&oldid=765691441 * Dalian plays shiritori with names of desserts during the preview for the next episode. References Category:Anime Episodes